From obstacle
to ally
Work: Strategy & full rebrand
Category: Medical assessments and licensing
Services provided: Brand platform, architecture,
positioning, visual identity direction, messaging
NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners) faced a reputational crisis. With minimal branding, and a tendency to collaborate with stakeholders behind- the-scenes, NBME’s role in setting standards for medical assessments and licensing was largely unknown. However, the one interaction all stakeholders did have with NBME was the unpopular administration of the US Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). Seen as pricy and bureaucratic, this one experience was having an outsized negative impact on NBME overall.
To restore NBME’s reputation and reset relationships with key stakeholders we had to work on two branding fronts. First, reposition completely to reverse insular behavior often seen as profit-led (vs. mission-led) and lacking in transparency. Second, significantly dial up brand presence
and storytelling to increase engagement and trust.
How we did it
…
A new positioning as a valued ally
NBME needed to overtly become their “partner in excellence” with
clear a mission to keep the global healthcare community at the forefront of practice and patient care standards. This meant providing medical students, faculty and practitioners with NBME’s quality assessments and teaching benchmarks to ensure best in class standards of qualification.
A streamlined brand architecture focused on areas of expertise.
NBME is more than a test administrator, or co-sponsor of USMLE.
It creates vital, best in class medical assessments for assessing, learning, licensing, and credentialing.
New reasons to believe
The world needed to know more about what it did, how it did it, and how they benefited from NBME’s work. We helped structure a new messaging strategy and a battery of new proof points to convey all the ways NBME
is an ally in excellence, truly setting the highest standards and enabling the highest performance.
From NBME’s advanced learning and digital training modules which provides individualized learning, to its role convening of educators, physicians, faculty and patient advocates to determine what licensing standards to evolve, teach, and test, NBME has had an undeniable hand
in building a “board licensed” corps of competent health professionals patients can trust to deliver the highest quality care.
A clean visual identity system that humanizes NBME
and promises transparency.
Legacy
Interim
Final